Janet

This book takes its inspiration from The Pilgrim's Progress and the preachy tone irritated me beyond belief throughout the whole book, I'm afraid. I know it's 'of it's time' and if I'd read it in the 1800s then I would have just accepted it, but to me, this book doesn't work that well in the 21st century like some older novels do! I wonder if there was a factual mistake? Amy's will is dated 20 November 1861, yet at the start of the book - Christmas - their father is already away fighting. I thought the Civil War didn't start until April of that year! I thought it was well written - it was easy to picture the characters and the prose was good, but had it not been for Laurie, and to a lesser extent Jo, I would have given up with this book long ago. I only made it to the end of 'Little Women'. Part 2, which was never called Good Wives in the USA is in my book too, so I might go back to it, but I feel the need for something more contemporary in between. I couldn't believe that their mother would allow the canary to starve to death, just to teach the girls a lesson. I know Christians don't believe animals have a soul (although I don't know why they shouldn't) but surely they wouldn't allow an animal to suffer in that way just to prove a point? That really doesn't seem very Christian to me! 5/10, but only because of Laurie!

Maroon 5 - It Won't Be Soon Before Long. A grower, I think!

I'm currently 'going through the motions' to become a library volunteer for Bath & N.E Somerset. B) I've passed the interview and had my criminal record back (clean, of course!) and I have to get a photo I.D and have a morning with the volunteer co-ordinator, and then I'm ready to go. I'm sorry, but pencil or no pencil, I think that is a pretty bad thing to do to something that is not your property!

Which Shakespeare did you do?

You wrote in library books?? Didn't you get into trouble for that?

I think I can answer that! When my Granny's neighbour was alive, she loved reading, but was housebound. The library back then didn't offer the service it does now for housebound people where a volunteer gets books and keeps a record, so her daughter would choose books from the library for her, and would ring a certain page number, in pencil, on return so that when she was picking books, she could look at that page number to see whether her Mum had read it before. Of course, that fell down if there was more than one copy of a certain book in the library shelves! My books that I have studied have copious amounts of writing in them, but to write in a 'normal' book is a no-no for me! I'm a post it note fan too though!

I think it depends on a number of things. The closer my AS Level exam gets, the less I'm reading for pleasure. Also, it very much depends on the book. I read 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas' in one sitting (about two hours), because a) it was compelling and B) it was an easy read, being aimed at children. However, Little Women is taking me longer to read because of the exam, but also because I don't feel the same compulsion to pick it up. That said, in normal circumstances, I probably average about 20/30 pages in one sitting.

Thanks.

It's a book that really seems to divide camps - you either love it or loathe it!

I've seen them in The Book People catalogue - they have some very funny titles. I can't say I've thought of picking them up though. I wish my children read - there are some cracking books out there for children these days.

I've been re-reading Richard III, A Woman of No Importance, The World's Wife and Wise Children for the last few weeks, so it's taken me ages to plod though my latest read - The Soldier's Return by Melvyn Bragg. My choice for my real-life bookworms group for May. Should provoke some interesting conversation, I hope. Not sure what to read next. Little Women, perhaps?

The Soldier

Michael Crichton is one of Mr Bagpuss' favourite authors, along with Harlen Coben. I didn't know he had a new book out, and Mr B has a birthday coming up...

Rebecca is one of my all-time favourite books! The only other book of hers that I've read is Rule Britannia, which was, I think, her last novel, and is completely different to Rebecca!

I bought The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld in the Dorothy House charity shop in Warminster for 59p on Friday!

The very same! There are two actually, one that's on the edge of Bristol, and the one I live near is about 12 miles from Bristol in a place called Farrington Gurney. The Bristol one is not so good - it's quite a bit smaller. There are now two barns at Farrington Gurney (and a small coffee shop). If it's not too far for you, I'd definitely recommend travelling the extra distance to the F.G one.

That's six more than some people will have read.

I'm quite lucky to have a place called The Bookbarn near to me, which has millions of used books, which start at

Having counted, I've read 13, which is more than I thought at first glance. I fancy quite a few of them on that list though. At the moment, I'm not reading very much, because AS Level English seems to have taken over my entire life!

Great! I will look forward to reading some more of your thoughts. A great top 100 there - I must count how many I've read!

My 'current' Top 10! Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini Othello - William Shakespeare (Can I have this? It’s one of my all-time favourite reads!) The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time - Mark Haddon The Time Travellers Wife - Audrey Niffeneger Gentlemen and Players - Joanne Harris Beyond This Place - A J Cronin Rachel’s Holiday - Marian Keyes The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett You never know - you might end up enjoying it here and stick around when your project is finished - we're a friendly bunch. I'd definitely like to see your results.

Sound like one to get from the library, perhaps? I think I'd like the Florence Nightingale section, but I'd also be quite interested in the General Gordon piece. He was very proiment in Gravesend, which is where I went to school. There are lots of things in Gravesend - pubs, streets, even a school (now closed) - that were named after him, so I have actually heard of him!

I guess I haven't really thought that seriously about it, but I just felt like after all the time Sam spent in 1973, whether it be real of in his head, he felt more a part of it than he did 2006. I think the jump off the roof must have occurred some time after him waking from the coma, because he wouldn't be back in meetings the week after going through something like that, and because his hair was complete (unless I missed a shaved patch) and that he probably decided that he didn't want to live. It was a gamble for him. Who was to say that he wouldn't just die outright after jumping from a building, and never go back to 1973? Back in 1973, yes, he betrayed them, but he also went back to save them, and he could have just walked away. He knew that despite his methods, Gene was basically a good cop, and that history shows that the racism/sexism in the force wouldn't have ended in 1973 just because Sam bought down one cop. Sam has the ability to make Gene think about right and wrong - he was always the moral voice, and Gene did listen to him, even if he didn't always agree or conduct himself in the right manner. Change takes time, and I believe that if 1973 was real, and Sam did go back, then he would be able to change things with Gene. I suppose the test card girl could have been signifying Sam's death? I guess for someone who remembers the 70s, albeit that I was only 7 in '73, it had great nostalgic value and I just enjoyed it as a bit of fun. Each episode was great (with Camberwick Green being the greatest of all), and I'm glad it only went on for two series.

That can happen!

Is this the one where she remarries, but hasn't divorced her childhood sweetheart? If so, I read it a few years ago lying next to the pool in Zante. I would say it was perfect as a 'fluffy' read, but it wasn't exceptional. From what I remember of it, it was a little predictable! Of course, I could be thinking of entirely the wrong book!